Pictured: Company fined after worker jet-washes roof without any scaffolding

DANGEROUS: The worker stood on a roof and sprayed water without any scaffolding [CAVENDISH]

A shocked member of the public alerted the Health and Safety Executive after spotting him in the dangerous situation on the semi-detached home in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester.

IQ Roofing Solutions and managing director Stuart Bell were ordered to pay up for breaching health and safety at work regulations.

The worker was cleaning moss and other debris from the roof ahead of other work taking place on 6 June 2013.

An HSE inspector visited the site later the same day and immediately issued a Prohibition Notice ordering the workers from IQ Roofing Solutions to come down until scaffolding or other safety improvements had been implemented.

Trafford Magistrates' Court heard that Managing Director Stuart Bell had visited the site on the morning the work was due to start, and so knew it would be carried out without scaffolding around the edge of the roof. The company also failed to provide proof that it held Employers' Liability Insurance.

IQ Roofing Solutions pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and one breach of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.

The company, of Nelson Street in Tyldesley, was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £2,000 towards the cost of the prosecution. Stuart Bell was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,619 after admitting two breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Laura Moran said: "Falls from height are responsible for around a third of workplace deaths every year, with 25 people losing their lives in 2012/13 alone. I'd therefore like to thank the member of the public who alerted us to the work, as they may well have prevented a serious injury.